Samantha McGavin

Samantha is Executive Director of Inter Pares. She is also a member of the Asia team, focusing on Inter Pares’ Burma program. Previously, she was a fundraising manager (2002-2008) and then communications director (2008-2017). She is also one of two staff leads for the prevention of sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.

Samantha holds a bachelor of arts in English and anthropology, and a bachelor of social work (concentration on community development), from McGill University. Before joining Inter Pares in 2002, Samantha worked in Montreal's community sector and was a freelance researcher/writer/translator.

Samantha is particularly interested in documenting and promoting non-hierarchical management structures, consensus-based decision-making, and feminist practice. She was one of three principal researchers in Inter Pares' participatory action research project on its feminist methodology and structure, and the co-author of two related publications: "Does It Work? Feminist analysis and practice at Inter Pares" (Inter Pares Occasional Paper, March 2011) and "Feminist participatory research in a social justice organization" (Action Research 01/2011; 9(3):261-281). She is also the author of "Travailler auprès des personnes réfugiées" (Enjeux et défis du développement international : Acteurs et champs d'action, Les Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, 2019) and is the co-author of "Online Fundraising for Small Budgets" (Grassroots Fundraising Jan/Feb 2009:8-11).

In her personal life, Samantha has long promoted egalitarian and inclusive communities, with particular emphasis on the autonomy, rights, and access to the resources of the poor, as well as cycling safety. She is a parent to two young children.